Darkest of Evenings
by Valant
Summary: After Narcissa comes in contact with a powerful Dark Artifact, Lucius finds himself spending his night taking care of her.


**A/N**: My LuluxCissy addiction continues XD Fellow ff.n author 94 Bottles of Snapple helped inspire this one!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter but oh how I wish I did

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Mrs. Malfoy sighed as she once again looked at the clock. Lucius still wouldn't be home for several hours, and with Draco away at Hogwarts for most of the year now, Narcissa was beginning to find herself feeling rather lonely in the large Malfoy Manor until Lucius came home from the Ministry every evening.

Outside of her responsibilities of making dinner for Lucius when he got home as well as her own hobbies, Narcissa had taken to finally cleaning up the more neglected rooms of the mansion. She couldn't stand living in such a place without it being properly cared for, she would tell her husband and without the house elf around anymore, the task rested with her. The one room she hadn't yet touched was the old drawing room, where she knew Lucius's mother had kept quite a few things when she was still the mistress of the Manor. _'Well, I don't suppose Lucius would mind too much, would he?' _Narcissa thought, and began her work.

Dust had settled atop most everything in the room; it clearly had not been tended to in quite some time. She waved her wand, and a feather duster began clearing off a low table towards the center of the room, as something small that seemed to have fallen off the desk in the corner of the room caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an amethyst necklace that had almost certainly belonged to the women of the Malfoy family for generations. "How lovely!" she said with a grin, and carefully picked it up. Looking in the dust-coated mirror on the wall, she hooked the artifact behind her neck, and as soon as the pendant touched her skin, a strange sensation overtook the woman and she became frightened – terribly frightened. "Wh-what...?" she said aloud and looked down at the small amethyst. "What... Is this...?" She reached with shaking hands to remove it the necklace, but didn't make it in time. Narcissa Malfoy lost consciousness.

"Narcissa," Lucius said as he entered the Manor. "I've returned." He had fully expected her to be waiting for him nearby as usual, with the scent of whatever she had made for dinner coming from the kitchen. Today, however, neither was present. Quite disappointed that he didn't receive the enthusiastic greeting that had become custom by then, Lucius went to look for his beloved. "_Narcissa_," he said again, irritated that she had not responded. Without fail, whenever she went out alone she would always let him know one way or another, and he had received no such warning. The only other place she could be, he reasoned, was his mother's old drawing room. She had told him she would be trying to make it look a bit nicer, and he thought perhaps she had bewitched it so that no sound would be able to interrupt her work. He went to the old room, still a bit annoyed that he'd been given no warning of this.

The instant he saw his wife's body upon the floor, his cane clattered to the ground and he ran to her side. "Narcissa! Cissy!" He cried, shaking her gently. "Narcissa!" he said again, more and more worry added to his voice. "Cissa!" He watched his attempts to wake her fail, and only then did he notice the necklace she wore. "Cissa, you fool!" He the heirloom from its place around her neck, and cast it aside.

Lucius gathered her in his arms and took her to their bedroom. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her, as much as he may have wanted to. Her safety was far more important to him. As he laid her down and pulled a blanket over her, he noticed that her breathing was still a bit shallow. If she didn't wake by midnight, he decided, then and only then would he consult a specialist in such Dark Magic cases. He knew she was a very capable witch and could surely handle it own her own, or so he liked to think. "Cissa, please wake up soon, if not just to tell me you're alright..."He placed a soft kiss on her hand, and exited the room.

It wasn't until hours later when it had grown very dark out that Narcissa awoke from her Dark Magic-induced sleep. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying comfortably in the bed she usually shared with Lucius, as opposed to the cold floor of the drawing room that she had expected. She felt a very familiar, very warm presence at her side, a large hand firmly holding her own.

"Lucius...?" she asked in a whisper. She was surprised to see him there with her, patiently sitting in a chair conjured near the bed. "How long has it been since...?"

"Narcissa!" he nearly shouted when she finally spoke again. "Narcissa, you-!" He was enormously relieved that she was conscious again at last, but he had no idea how she could speak so casually like that. "Narcissa, how much of a fool can you possibly be?" She was taken aback at his shouting. She had just woken up and he was already this angry with her? "How can a witch as skilled and experienced as yourself let something like this happen?"

"Lucius, I don't understand... I don't understand why you're so angry!"

"Why I'm so angry? I'm mad because you knowingly touched that artifact without even thinking it might have magical properties and you... You made me worry about you!" A faint blush came to the man's cheeks when he admitted this.

"Oh, Lucius, I... I had no idea. I didn't think for a moment that it would be any sort of Dark Magic. I was careless, and I certainly didn't mean to make you worry." Narcissa saw his expression soften and, with some difficulty, she sat up and embraced him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"N-no, I ... I shouldn't have shouted at you, but..."

"I understand and I certainly don't blame you. I would do the same if I feared your life was in danger." She let him go, resting her head once more on the soft pillows behind her. "Everything's alright now, thanks to you."

"I think you give me a bit too much credit, darling," he said with a deep chuckle. "Oh, Narcissa, I, um, made some tea for when you woke up..." Lucius added awkwardly, taking the cup from the nightstand and offering it to her.

"Thank you, Lucius. That's sweet of you," she smiled. She accepted the warm glass and took a sip before setting it down again on the table beside her.

"Ah, Cissa... If you need anything else, just tell me, all right?"

"You act like I'm dying or something! It was just... Just...?" She gave her husband a questioning look. He was sure to be able to explain what had happened much better than she could at this point.

"That thing you touched was, as you know, infused with powerful Dark Magic. I had meant to take it with me to Knockturn Alley when those Ministry raids were being conducted, but I had apparently missed it. It belonged to my mother last, as I'm sure you've surmised, and she was never careful with that sort of thing." No matter how many times Cissy told him he was not at fault, he couldn't stop himself from placing the blame for the incident on himself. He had been foolish to simply forget about the necklace that appeared to be so innocent. If he had known that Narcissa wasn't aware of what it was capable of, he wouldn't have let it out of his sight.

"I really had no idea... I _do_ feel foolish."

"Don't worry about it, Narcissa. You're safe now and that is all that matters. But even I don't know if there will be any lasting affects, so you really should consider getting some rest soon."

"You're right. I _am_ still feeling a bit weak, after all... Will you be joining me?" She looked at him with hopeful eyes. It would be a great comfort, she thought, just to have his arms around her the night when she most needed him.

"Of course I will, in due time. I've got a few things to take care of yet, you see."

Narcissa gripped his hand tightly again. "Do you... Have to?" she asked shyly.

"..." He stayed silent a moment, thinking of the proper response. He did have several things to go over for the Ministry of Magic and Narcissa had always understood that his work was almost as important as she was, but this time things were different. "Not if you need me," Lucius conceded.

"Well, to be honest, I'm still a bit scared..." She looked away, embarrassed, trying hard to keep her gaze away from his. "You can't possibly understand what it was like, though...! I was terrified...!"

"Just ten minutes," He told her definitively. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be back here with you. Until then..." Lucius quickly unbuttoned his perfectly ironed shirt, and draped it over her shoulders. "So you can still feel safe when I'm out of your sight."

Narcissa could only nod in reply. As soon as he was out the door, she pulled the shirt close around her and inhaled deeply. The scent of Lucius's cologne lingered heavily and it brought a sad sort of smile to her face. "Oh, Lucius..."

Mr. Malfoy, of course, heard this from the hallway and instantly regretted not staying with her. Just her tone of voice was enough to make him feel terrible. "...On second thought," he said, much to his wife's surprise, "Just allow me to turn the lights off and I'll join you. My work is nothing that can't be put off."

When he returned, she was still blushing from being overheard. "Um... Would you mind if I kept this, just for tonight?" she asked, indicating the item she held tightly around her.

"Not at all, dear," he assured her.

"Oh, and Lucius? There's something I forgot to tell you."

"What is it?"

"...Welcome home." With heavy assistance from her husband, she sat up and embraced him once more, this time with even more feeling than before.

"It's good to be home." The smile on his face was made evident just by the way he spoke. He loosened his hold on her so that he could kiss the woman he loved, over and over again. When at last he assisted her in lying down once more, she smiled that beautiful smile of hers that Lucius always found stunning. For her, at least, words couldn't express what she felt for him.

"Sleep well, Narcissa," he said quietly, and placed one last kiss upon her forehead.


End file.
